


Not So Hopeless

by its_magic13



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: F/M, I love Kesler, Kesler does canonically have five older siblings, Kesler has two moms, Tags Are Fun, and Elwin, and Juline, because I said so, so... OC time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29047035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_magic13/pseuds/its_magic13
Summary: Kesler Dizznee.Talentless. Bad match. Hopeless case. Crazy.Maybe he is all those things.But he is more than what society has made him.Kesler Dizznee.Alchemist. Father. Husband. Brother. Best friend.Kesler has a story that cannot be told simply by match lists- or lack thereof.——————This story follows him through a series of one-shots, one for each Foxfire level, plus an epilogue.Enjoy!
Relationships: Juline Dizznee/Kesler Dizznee, Kesler Dizznee & Elwin Heslege friendship, minor OC/OC
Comments: 8
Kudos: 8





	1. Level One

Kesler found his locker after morning orientation without any trouble, and the DNA strip tasted like custard bursts when he licked it- though his sister Enya had told him that the flavors changed each day and occasionally got  _very_ weird. He opened the metal door and began to shove books into his satchel.

“You won’t need all of those,” said a blonde girl whose locker was next to his. “Didn’t you read your schedule for today?”

He turned and shrugged. “I like to be prepared.”

“What’s your name, anyway?” the girl asked, frowning.

“Depends. What’s yours?” Kesler responded, not all liking the way she was staring at him as though he reminded her of something extremely unpleasant.

“I’m Kelia Adel.”

“Kesler Dizznee.”

Kelia’s eyebrows arched up. “I knew it.”

“What?”

“You’re a Dizznee,” Kelia said, almost to herself. “Another one.”

Kesler slammed his locker shut without responding and hurried down the hall to his first class, The Universe. He had a feeling he was not going to like Kelia Adel.

Kesler’s Universe mentor was named Sir Jarvin. He was a small man, barely taller than Kesler, and he had eyes only for the star maps on the wall. Kesler was fairly certain he could have walked out of the classroom without his mentor noticing.

The hallway lights seemed jarringly bright after the soft shadows of the Universe classroom, and Kesler blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust. “That’s him,” someone said.

Kesler whirled around. The speaker was Kelia Adel, who was nudging her friend in the ribs. Kelia and Kesler stared at each other for a few moments, then Kesler turned on his heel and set off for the cafeteria.

There were more voices now.

“He’s a Dizznee.”

“Another one?”

“That’s five now. No, wait, six.”

“...odd...”

“That whole family...”

“...two moms...”

Kesler sighed and got in line for lunch. He couldn’t correct them, because they were all right. Counting Kesler, there were six Dizznee kids, and they did in fact have two moms. What got on his nerves was the way everyone acted like it was a bad thing. His fingers tightened on the edge of his tray. Why did they care who his parents were or how many siblings he had?

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice when his older sister Allegra tapped him on the shoulder until she spoke. “Hey, Kesler.”

He almost dropped his tray. “Oh- hey.”

“How was your morning session?” Allegra asked, rocking on her heels.

“Good, I guess.” Kesler took a step forward in line. “Pretty sure I could skip class without my Universe mentor noticing.”

“Who do you have?”

“Sir Jarvin.”

“Yeah, I had him when I was a Level One. Good mentor, all things considered, but always staring into space.” She snickered at her own terrible joke, and Kesler bit back a grin.

“Anyway, how were your classes?” Kesler asked, moving forward in line again to grab a bright blue sandwich. 

“Fine.” Allegra grabbed a bowl of red soup. “I have metaphysics after lunch, though.” She made a face.

“I’ve got alchemy.” Kesler considered a small array of desserts and chose a puffy green ball-shaped one.

“Good luck. Don’t explode the school.”

Kesler stuck his tongue out at her.

“Hey, Allegra! Over here!” someone called. A short girl with coffee-brown skin and purple streaks running through her dark hair was waving at Allegra. She was wearing the same orangey-brown Level Three uniform as Allegra and there were two other girls next to her.

Allegra waved back. “Coming!” She turned to Kesler. “I’m going to go sit with my friends.”

“Such loyalty,” Kesler said as she walked away, but he didn’t really mind.

He glanced around the cafeteria and saw his older brother, Marcellus, a Level Five, waving. Kesler waved back. Marcellus turned back to his table of friends and Kesler made his way to a table in the corner. A boy with gray-blue eyes and curly brown hair, dressed in the same jerkin and black shirt and pants as Kesler, sat down next to him. “Hi,” Kesler said warily.

“Hi!” the boy said. “What’s your name?”

“Kesler.” He hesitated, then added, “Dizznee.”

“Nice. I’m Elwin Heslege.” Elwin took a sip of lushberry juice. “You know anyone here?”

“Well, I have five older siblings, so I know them, but that’s it.”

Elwin raised his eyebrows. “You have  _five_ older siblings?”

“Yes,” Kesler said defiantly. “I do.”

“Cool.” Elwin grinned. “I always thought it’d be fun to have more siblings. It’s just me at my house. What’s it like?”

Kesler took a bite of his sandwich, swallowed, and said, “Annoying.”

“Really?” Elwin looked disappointed.

“Well,” Kesler said, “not always. It is nice sometimes. It’s never boring, anyway.”

Elwin laughed slightly and took another gulp of lushberry juice. 

“So what’s your family like?” Kesler asked.

Elwin shrugged. “Not very exciting. Just me and my dad.” He hesitated, tapping his fingers on the side of his lushberry juice bottle, then added, “My mom died when I was four.” He bit his lip, as though worried he’d shared too much.

“Oh,” Kesler said. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. What about your parents? What’re they like?”

“My mom Azalea is really into science and alchemy, which is cool, and she’s really good at it. My other mom, Adene, explodes everything, but she’s much better at cooking.”

Elwin laughed. “My dad’s terrible with alchemy.”

“So’s my brother Braylon.”

“So who are your siblings?” Elwin asked.

Kesler took another bite of his blue sandwich. “Well,” he said after swallowing, “my oldest sister Enya is a Level Six, then there’s my brother Marcellus, who’s a Level Five, and then my brother Braylon is a Level Four, my sister Allegra, who’s a Level Three, my sister Zara, who’s a Level Two, and then there’s me.”

“That’s a lot,” Elwin said, and both of them laughed.

The bells signaling the end of lunch rang far too soon. Kesler headed to alchemy, and Elwin went to elementalism.

Far from exploding the school, as Allegra had teased, Kesler turned out to have a talent for alchemy, much to the surprise and delight of his mentor. (Sir Ciel had apparently taught Braylon the previous year.) Kesler had always loved helping his mom Azalea with her experiments, but it had never occurred to him he could truly be  _good_ at it. Alchemy had just been a hobby. But maybe now, it could be something more.

It was a nice thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: All of the background characters here are original, with the exception of Sir Jarvin. He was Keefe’s Level Two Universe mentor and was known for paying much more attention to the stars than to his prodigies.
> 
> Please comment if you liked it!


	2. Level Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Kesler apparently has two sisters and three brothers...  
> But I’ve already created my five Dizznee family OCs (seven if you count his moms) so you’ll have to deal with this inaccuracy.  
> Who cares about canon anyway?  
> Moving on...

Kesler gritted his teeth and stopped the bright green splotcher barely an inch from his face. With an almost painful burst of energy, he forced it back towards Elwin, who was nice enough to let the splotcher get about halfway to him before sending it zooming back to Kesler with barely any effort.  
Kesler caught it again, but it was an even closer call than before, and the next time Elwin sent it shooting towards him, it made contact and burst, covering the side of Kesler’s face in green slime. “Sorry,” Elwin apologized.  
“It’s fine.” Kesler wiped his cheek with the back of his sleeve. “You could’ve beaten me earlier than that, anyway.”  
“You’re getting better,” Elwin insisted. “You just need to concentrate more.”  
Kesler gave him a thumbs-up. “Right. Now go win.”  
Elwin laughed and Kesler headed to the bleachers. “Don’t get your hopes up,” Elwin called.  
Kesler shook his head and sat down to watch the rest of the matches.  
Elwin won his match against a prodigy named Lisolette, and a prodigy with long amber hair pulled back into a messy ponytail (Kesler didn’t know her name) splattered Kelia Adel with purple slime.   
Kelia flopped down next to Kesler. “Out as usual, then?”  
“You can’t talk,” Kesler said.  
“I did make it farther than you,” Kelia pointed out.  
“Oh please.” Kesler rolled his eyes. “You got lucky. I could beat you at splotching.”  
“Want to prove it?”  
“I don’t see a splotcher.”  
Kelia smirked. “Don’t go anywhere.”   
She walked up to one of their P.E. mentors. “Can Kesler and I have a splotcher for some extra practice?”  
“Sure.” Lady Eris gestured to the basket. “Pick one.”  
Kelia grabbed an orange one and matched back over to Kesler. “We’ll put it on the floor between us,” she said, setting it down, “and then we’ll try to pick it up.”  
Kesler nodded. “Three... two... one.”  
Neither of them were very good, so it took an extra second for the splotcher to lift off the ground. Kesler got it first, but Kelia pulled it away. They struggled for a few minutes, faces scrunched and hands clenched. With a gasp of effort, Kesler pulled the splotcher out of Kelia’s hold, shoved it towards her face, and- splat. Kelia’s face was covered in orange slime.   
Kesler raised his arms in victory. Kelia glared. Someone let out a snort of laughter behind them. It was Elwin. “That was intense,” Elwin said.  
Kelia flicked her braid over her shoulder. “Whatever. Skills aren’t nearly as important as abilities, anyway.”  
“I don’t know,” Kesler cut in. “Skills can be pretty impressive.”  
A grin spread across Kelia’s face. “Yeah... you would think that, wouldn’t you?”  
Kesler folded his arms. “Yes. Why?”  
“You’ll fit right in at Exillium.”  
“I’m not going to Exillium,” Kesler snapped. “It’s for criminals.”  
Kelia smirked. “And the Talentless.”  
“Take that back!” Elwin demanded.  
“No.”  
“My mom said most Exillium kids aren’t Talentless,” Kesler said sharply. “And it doesn’t matter, because I’m not Talentless or a danger to society.”  
“You are a sixth kid,” Kelia pointed out.  
“Which means nothing!” Elwin glared at her. “‘Optimal genetic purity”-“ here he made finger quotes- “isn’t real.”  
Kesler nodded. “My other mom said.”  
Kelia shrugged. “Well, we’ll see, won’t we?” She turned on her heel and walked away.  
“You’re still covered in slime,” Kesler called after her.  
She didn’t turn around.  
“Mister Dizznee and Mister Heslege!” Lady Eris was striding towards them. “Class is over, and you would do well to forget your silly feud with Miss Adel.”  
“You’re kidding,” said Kesler incredulously.  
“Did you hear what Kelia-“ Elwin started, but Lady Eris interrupted him.  
“I will speak to Miss Adel about her rudeness, but all prodigies must respect each other.”  
“That means her, too,” Kesler put in.  
“I am perfectly clear on that, Mister Dizznee,” Lady Eris said sharply. “Now go to the locker rooms, both of you.”  
Elwin sighed and both of them left the gym. Neither of them spoke while they changed into their regular uniforms.  
Elwin broke the silence as they walked to study hall. “She’s wrong, you know.”  
“I know.” Kesler adjusted his satchel. “She has to be; all my siblings have manifested now.”  
“Oh, Zara, too?”  
“Yeah, she’s a Phaser.” He grinned. “We found out today, when her head went through her door. Then she got stuck.”  
Elwin winced. “Yeah, I’ve heard that can be difficult to control.”  
“It would be neat to be a Phaser, though,” Kesler said thoughtfully. “My brother Marcellus is one, too, just like my mom Azalea.”  
“You’ve got a good chance, then,” Elwin said as he pushed open the library door and he and Kesler made their way to a table in the back. Elwin pulled out a star chart, and Kesler took out a notebook. For a few minutes, they sat in silence, Elwin labeling stars and Kesler writing out an ingredients list.  
Kesler slid his notebook across the table. “Do you think this would work?”  
Elwin set aside his star chart and reached for the notebook. “What is this for?”  
“It’s a serum, and it’s supposed to turn iron into glass.”  
“Isn’t that transmutation only for Level Fours and older?” Elwin squinted at the page, trying to decipher Kesler’s handwriting. “It’s supposed to be really hard.”  
Kesler shrugged. “Maybe? But I’ve already done it the traditional way before.”  
“Of course you have. It looks good except for this, right here.” Elwin held the notebook out, pointing at an item on the list. “If you’re using indurite, you’ll want to heat it before mixing it into the serum. Otherwise it’ll turn your iron into sand.”  
“Oh, that makes sense. Thanks.” Kesler scribbled down the change.  
“I didn’t even think you had alchemy today,” Elwin said.  
Kesler set down his pen. “I don’t. I should be doing my metaphysics homework, but it’s boring.”  
“Hey, I’d switch with you any day.” Elwin tapped the star map. “I can never remember any of these.”  
“You want to write my three page essay on the properties of telekinesis with core energy versus brain energy?”  
Elwin hesitated. “Yeah, no.”  
“Thought not.” Kesler flipped to a fresh page in the notebook. “Ugh.” He considered the blank paper for a few moments, then flipped back to his ingredients list. “I’ll do it this weekend.”  
Elwin labeled a star. “You’re missing the point of study hall.”  
“Enya has this weekend off from whatever they do in the Elite towers, and she knows a lot about this stuff, so I’m going to ask her to help me.”  
“Whatever you say. You wouldn’t happen to know what this star’s called, would you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Juline won’t be actually introduced until the next chapter, but she does make a brief (unnamed) appearance here.
> 
> Comment if you enjoyed! Or even if you didn’t! I love any thoughts on my writing, good or bad.


	3. Level Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the wait for this chapter was longer, but it’s my favorite so far, so I hope it was worth it!

“So, how do you think you did?” Kesler’s sister Zara asked, nudging him in the ribs.

Kesler shrugged. “I know I passed alchemy, but I’m worried about P.E. and metaphysics.”

“At least it’s only midterm,” Zara said, her feet sinking ankle-deep into the floor with every step she took, as though she were walking through mud. 

“Do you have to do that?” Kesler asked. “It’s seriously a little weird.”

“Well, I like it,” Zara replied, and sunk up to her waist in the brown tile of the Level Three atrium.

“Whatever makes you happy,” Kesler laughed. “Listen, I’m going to go talk to my friends.”

“Have fun.” Zara disappeared entirely into the floor.

“Phasers,” Kesler said, shaking his head.

“Hey, Kesler!” someone shouted. “Over here!”

It was Juline, a girl Kesler had only recently become friends with. She was a Level Three, like him and Elwin, and a very talented Froster. “Coming!” Kesler called back, and began to elbow his way through the packed atrium.

“I love midterms,” Juline said, once Kesler had reached her. “The after part, anyway.”

Kesler grinned and reached up to pop a bubble with a tin of Prattles in it. “Me too.”

“Hey, guys.” Elwin emerged from the crowd, followed by a short man with deep blue eyes and messy brown hair, who had to be his dad.

“Hi,” Kesler said. “Do you know when the parent-mentor conferences start?”

“Five minutes,” Elwin’s dad said. “So I need to leave. Will you be all right?”

“Yes, Dad,” Elwin said, giving him a quick hug. “See you.”

“See you.” He left.

“Right,” Elwin said, opening the bag he was carrying, “I brought presents.” He placed a wrapped box in each of Kesler and Juline’s thinking caps. “And I got mood candy for everyone else.”

“ _Everyone?_ ” Juline repeated incredulously.

“Yeah. Want to help me pass it out?”

“Even Kelia?” Kesler asked.

“Even her.” When Kesler raised his eyebrows, Elwin sighed and said, “Look, it would be weird to give some to everyone else except her.”

“She’s had no problem being weird to you,” Juline put in. “Rude, actually. Not weird.”

Elwin made a noncommittal noise in his throat. “Well, I already bought it, anyway.”

Juline and Kesler helped Elwin put the candy in everyone’s thinking caps. “Wow,” Juline said when they were done, “there are a  _lot_ of prodigies here.”

Elwin laughed. “Anyways, time to open our own gifts.”

They grabbed their thinking caps and headed for the cafeteria, where they grabbed a table towards the back. The first thing Kesler opened was a set of pens from Elwin. “They’re for alchemists,” Elwin explained. “You write in alchemy shorthand and it changes the shorthand into full words, so you don’t have trouble reading your handwriting or anything.  _And_ they write in awesome colors.”

Kesler grinned. “Thanks. I’ll use these.”

Elwin had gotten Juline a box of some candy called Blitzenberry Bursts, which supposedly expanded in your mouth and then exploded into juice. Juline tried one and discovered that the juice was extremely sour. She offered Kesler and Elwin some, but they refused. Juline loved sour candy, but Elwin couldn’t stand it and Kesler preferred chocolate anyway.

“Open mine next,” Kesler told her.

She did. “Oh, it’s... orange slime?”

“I made it,” said Kesler proudly. “Put it on a door handle, any door handle, then put your hand on it. It absorbs your handprint and it won’t let anyone in except you.”

“Wow.” Juline grinned. “You’re good.”

“My sister Allegra helped me,” Kesler explained, “because she’s a Technopath and she likes to play with locks.”

“Still good,” Juline said. “What’d you get Elwin?”

Kesler’s gift to Elwin was a pair of glasses. “Allegra helped me with these, too. She made the glasses and I made the metal sensitive to light. You put them on, and you can adjust them with these knob things, and you can see in different kinds of light.”

“These are so cool.” Elwin put them on. “Oh, everything’s purple. I can see your cells, kinda.”

“It worked, then,” said Kesler happily. “I was worried.”

Juline had gotten Kesler a detailed, palm-size statue of a gremlin carved out of onyx and decorated with silver, and Elwin a banshee statue made of opal and gold. “This is awesome,” Elwin exclaimed. “His name is Bullhorn.”

Kesler raised his eyebrows. “Bullhorn?”

“Yes, and he will live on my desk forever.”

Juline laughed. “I’m glad you like it.”

Overhead, the bells chimed a final time, signaling the end of parent-mentor conferences. Juline’s parents and older sister Edaline appeared almost instantly to discuss scores, and Elwin’s dad showed up not long after that. After another five minutes or so, Kesler’s moms managed to elbow their way through the packed cafeteria, followed by his older brother Braylon. “You passed!” Braylon shouted.

Kesler grinned. “What about you?”

“Passed my elvin history exam with a seventy-six.”

“One hundred percent in alchemy,” Azalea told Kesler with a smile, handing him the list of his scores. “And above eighty in all your other subjects.”

“I’m really proud of you,” Adene added, giving him a hug.

“Thanks.” Kesler glanced through his scores.

“So,” Adene said, “Aza and I are going to find Allegra and Zara, and then I think we’re leaving.”

“Really?” Kesler was a little disappointed.

“Yeah.” Adene leaned in like she was sharing a secret. “Marcellus and Enya have a couple weeks off from the elite towers, so they’re meeting us at home.”

“Oh!” Kesler started to gather his stuff. “It’s been  forever since we’ve seen them.”

“It really has,” Azalea agreed. “So, you two-“ she indicated Braylon and Kesler- “pack up your stuff and meet us outside the Leapmaster tower.”

“I can’t wait to see Enya,” Braylon said. “Remember how she used to be such a show-off with her telekinesis?”

“She probably still is,” Kesler laughed. “Two months isn’t nearly enough time for her to lose  _that_ habit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the gifts are completely made up, except for mood candy, which does exist, and Bliztenberry Bursts, which do not exist, but are based on a real dessert. This dessert is bliztenberry muffins, and apparently the berries are tart and fizzy.


End file.
